St. Louis - Third-ranked Saint Louis battled back from a two-goal second half deficit to tie Western Illinois 4-4 tonight in a non-conference men's soccer match before 1,667 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Freshman midfielder Will John scored twice in the second half to rally the Bills from the brink of defeat.

"We didn't like the way we started, but we liked the way we finished the game," head coach Dan Donigan said. "We keep saying that this team is in a learning process, and these young guys certainly learned something tonight. This game will help us win one somewhere down the road."

WIU got on the board first in the sixth minute as freshman forward Nowaf Jaman chipped Billiken goalkeeper Martin Hutton from 18 yards. Kosuke Kimura and Bob Wallace picked up assists.

Saint Louis answered with its own freshman forward at 14:50. Will John. DiRaimondo rolled a 10-yard shot to the left post past WIU keeper Chris Frenz.

The Leathernecks' Nick Bohenkamp was tripped in the SLU penalty area in the final minute of the first half resulting in a penalty kick. Senior forward Justin Langan drilled the PK past Bills keeper Martin Hutton to knot the game.

WIU stunned the Bills with two goals within 90 seconds in the second half. Langen drilled a one-timer at the left post off a feed from junior midfielder P.J. Blackford at 63:21. Jaman stuffed home his own rebound at 64:42 after Hutton was unable to control his initial shot off a pass from Wallace.

"We never quit, because we knew there was time," John said. "No matter what happens, you just have to keep playing, and we did that."

The Billikens stormed back behind John's goal in the 76th minute. Bills sophomore midfielder Ryan Wileman put John in alone on Armen Tonianse, who came on in relief of Frenz to start the second half, and John made no mistake from four yards. In the 81st minute, John hit a six-yard chip after some nifty passing from Wileman and Andy Pusateri.

"Will has a great feel for the game and seems to pop up in the right spot at the right time," Donigan said. "He's intelligent and is very much like (2001 first-team All-American) Dipsy Selolwane in the way he floats into scoring opportunities."

The Bills nearly won the game in regulation as Ibisevic hit a rocket off the right goal post with 6:52 remaining. John bid for a hat trick when his 12-yard shot curled just wide of the right post.

With both teams fighting exhaustion and cramps in the overtime, the Leathernecks (5-2-1) had the best opportunity when Jaman shot wide in the 104th minute. WIU out-shot the Billikens 17-16, but SLU had a 9-2 edge on corner kicks. Hutton made several outstanding saves among his seven stops. Neither Frenz nor Tanianse were credited with a save.

The Billikens stretched their home unbeaten streak to 30 games. It was the most goals scored in a SLU match since the Bills also played a 4-4 draw with Ohio State during the 1996 season.

Saint Louis (6-0-1) returns to Conference USA action on Sat., Sept. 27, when Louisville visits Hermann Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

#3 SAINT LOUIS 4,  WIU 4  (OT)
 WIU   5:25  Nowaf Jaman 18 yd chip from Kosuke Kimura, Bob Wallace
 SLU  14:50  Vedad Ibisevic 12-yd header from John DiRaimondo
 SLU   42:21  DiRaimondo 10 yds from Will John
 WIU   44:15  Justin Langan PK
 WIU   63:21 Langan six yards from PJ Blackford
 WIU   64:42  Jaman rebound from Wallace
 SLU   75:32  John 8 yds from Ryan Wileman
 SLU   80:03  John 8-yd volley from Wileman and Andy Pusateri

Shots: SLU - 16, WIU - 17 Corners: SLU - 9, WIU - 2 Saves: SLU - 7 (Hutton - 7), WIU - 0 (Frenz - 0, Tonianse - 0) Fouls: SLU - 18, WIU - 16 Att: 1,167